Pretty Hot
by ChrisRainicorn
Summary: After an accident involving Ice Dust at their Dust Management class, Jaune finds out a simple way to warm up that works better than hot chocolate.


**Edit: This fic has a dub! Check it out here:** **watch?v=yXoGv93jLOE**

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"W-worst class e-ever!" Jaune murmured between his clacking teeth as he hugged himself, rubbing the side of his arms with his shoulders scrunched, trying to cling to any trace of warmth still left on his body.

Groans of agreement resonated with his teammates as they walked hurriedly through the courtyard, trying to get to their dorm's building as fast as they could in their not so pleasing situation. The faint sunlight peeking through clusters of clouds not enough to help at anything; they all had been victims of the accident in the Dust Management class, and they were all in similar states of low-key freezing to death.

The class in question was supposed to be a nice and informative – and maybe even fun! - study of Ice Dust and its properties and applications. Each team received a few samples of the substance in its different states for the analysis - from uncut crystals, to crushed shards, to powder filled vials.

However, there was one little, small detail. It's common knowledge that Ice Dust can be considered really beautiful, and it can even be used in decorations after a really delicate – and expensive - special treatment. However, even if the tubes filled with the glowing shards could look like pretty snow globes, you definitely should not shake it like a pretty snow globe.

"C'mon guys! It wasn't that b-bad!" Nora said while picking the shards of ice that formed at the tips of the strands of her hair with the explosion, she was shaking from the cold just as much as he was, but the whole situation seemed more fun than anything to her. "Look at the bright side! We were dismissed from class earlier!"

"I guess if you put it that way it is a good thing…" Pyrrha agreed between a shaky smile while she helped Nora with her hair. "The Dust lab is already cold because of the air conditioning… I wasn't exactly eager to spend four hours there while handling Ice Dust."

"That's the only good thing." Jaune complained as he took off his gloves and shoved them into his pocket. The fact that they were fingerless and the addition of a layer of melting ice around the leather didn't contribute at all with his attempts of warming up.

He rubbed his hands together trying to produce any heat to help his fingertips feel less numb with cold. Feeling something icy and pointy hit the back of his head, he immediately turned a sharp gaze to the side, catching Nora mischievously giggling and Pyrrha trying to contain a laugh. "Stop being grumpy!"

"Nora, don't flick the shards around." Ren said while Nora was already picking another projectile from her bangs.

"Awn…" She pouted, upset that her unusual target practice was being reprimanded. "You boys are no fun today."

They finally arrived at the dorms building, collective sighs of relief were heard through the warmer halls. Before they could turn to the direction of the stairs that would take them to their room – where comfy clothes, cozy blankets, and soft pillows awaited for them - Ren spoke up, "C'mon, I'll prepare some warm drinks for all of us."

The whole team instantly perked up with the promise as the boy led the way to the dorm's shared kitchen.

"Oh! That sounds grand!" Pyrrha clapped her hands together.

"Thanks, Ren. You're the best!" Jaune couldn't avoid a smile from appearing on his face.

"Oh! Oh! Can we get some coffee?" Nora asked while she jumped to cling to her partner's arms.

"NO!" Three voices shouted in unison.

Their hyperactive teammate continued to try to convince Ren that just a teeny-tiny sip of coffee wouldn't be a problem at all and that she could definitely handle it with no major setback. However, it was clear that the boy was used to this kind of promises – and that he knew well that it was impossible for his partner to keep it - and wasn't changing his mind.

Jaune jumped a little when he felt something poking at his hair, expecting someone to be using him as a target and throwing ice at him again. The chance of having to relive this scenario was discarded though, as the gentle feeling of touch in his strands got him much more alert than one of Nora's projectiles.

Instead, he just found that his partner had approached him, picking a shard that was stuck on his strands in the same way she was doing before with their other teammate. "Yours is just as bad as Nora's." Pyrrha let out a small laugh as she showed him the fragment of ice that she had just removed from his hair.

"T-thanks." Jaune took the shard from her hands and threw it out from a nearby window as fast as he could; trying to avoid it from freezing his fingertips even more. Turning back to his partner, he gave her a small smile as thanks, which she immediately returned with one of her own. He admired how even after going through an explosion of ice, her gestures kept their warmth.

"Are you doing alright?" Pyrrha crossed her arms, tucking her hands close to her body to conserve heat as they passed by another open window, where a chilly breeze managed to sneak into the halls, causing her to shiver lightly.

"Y-yeah. Just need to warm up that's all." Jaune glanced to the other half of the team ahead of them; Nora was hugging Ren tightly as they walked, still chatting excitedly about her drink now that her partner had promised to make her hot cocoa with extra marshmallows, finally getting her to give up on the idea of coffee.

It was clear to him how they seemed to be shivering less and less with each step…

He looked back to Pyrrha, and to her scrunched shoulders and one-person hug, then back to the other half of the team ahead of them. An idea was about to form in his mind. An idea that would certainly help him warm up. An idea that involved his partner and it would totally help her too. An idea that was inspired by the scene in front of him.

But they arrived at their destination, and in the exact second he crossed the threshold from the hallway to the dorm's kitchen, the idea was shut away quickly, without even having a chance of being fully acknowledged by him.

Ren promptly went to the kitchen area to work his magic. Jaune could only hear the boy swiftly gathering the ingredients he needed for their beverages and at the same time keeping Nora from stealing some of those ingredients.

Jaune immediately sought comfort and warmth, plopping heavily on the worn out – but strangely wonderfully comfortable - two-seat couch in the dorms recreation area, snatching one of the cushions to help his body warm up and instantly curling up in the corner against the cushioned armrest as he waited.

Pyrrha sat by his side. Letting out a small sigh and closing her eyes as she reclined against the backrest. He watched her, her posture relaxing with each breath, and he couldn't help but notice that for someone that was caught in the middle of the same Ice Dust accident as him, she didn't seem to be bothered much by the cold now, or even feeling cold at all at this point.

She wasn't shivering anymore, and her skin was back to its normal tone, with the usual flush steadily getting back to her cheeks, a contrast from his own that was probably pale from the low temperature.

"You don't look like someone that was just in the middle of an explosion of Ice Dust." He commented his previous thoughts aloud.

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha cracked one eye open, turning her head to his direction.

"It's just that doesn't look like you're cold! I can barely feel my face right now." He pointed at himself with a bluish finger, all curled up and still shivering after all this time.

"Oh! I was pretty cold when we left the classroom." She looked at her hands, stretching her own fingers that were probably not giving her the lovely sensation of about to fall off. "But I guess I just adjust more quickly?"

"That's… so unfair!" He huffed and hugged the cushion. "Next you're telling me that you're fireproof!"

She laughed. "It's nothing like that." Pyrrha placed her hands on her face, and after testing her own temperature, she winced slightly. "They're not even that warm right now."

"But they are probably warmer than mine." His looked down at his hands, still tucked between the pillow and his arms, as close to his body as possible, hugging himself tightly.

"Well… Here." He looked up just to see Pyrrha scooting closer to him on the couch until their arms touched. "See?"

She stretched a hand to his direction. Before he knew, she was placing it gently on his cheek, and at the exact moment it came in contact with his skin, Jaune froze. But now a completely different kind of freeze because of a completely different reason.

Pyrrha had touched his cheek before numerous times, usually in their aura training sessions to give him a helpful push, but at that moment, it was a completely new - and amazing- sensation.

Immediately after her hand touched his cheek he felt the pleasant warmth emanating from it, and together with the familiar sense of comfort Pyrrha's touches always caused on him, it formed an incredible combination. With that one simple touch, he felt the heat spreading to the rest of his face, and then to the rest of his body when he felt his heart beating fast, as if it was trying to pump the sensation through his veins.

And suddenly, he was thinking that he liked this - a lot.

"Oh!" He instinctively leaned into her touch. "Pyrrha, you're such a big liar!"

She laughed quietly as she moved her hand to press the back of her fingers to his cheek, and yep! Still warm. "You are the one who is freezing! Everything that touches you that's not an ice cube is going to feel warm to you."

"Hmm... I don't really know about that." He moved his own hand; his only thought about how he was enjoying this sensation and that he probably should make the most of this warmth, and placed his palm on top of the back of her hand, instinctively fitting his fingers between hers.

She let out a tiny gasp. He immediately interpreted as the shock from the difference of temperature between their hands. "Sorry if I'm cold… it's just… Gods, Pyrrha, how are you so hot?"

He saw her blink once, twice. A few seconds of silence passed until she choked out a "W-what?!"

Jaune felt her hand suddenly go stiff under his, his eyes widened and he felt his face heating up at the exact moment he finally caught up with the implications of his words. He had just called his partner "hot"!

"Dust! That's not what I meant!" He shook his head at her surprised expression. "I m-mean… I didn't mean to call you hot! Well, I-I guess I meant it but not in that way! Wait… No! Sorry! I just- I didn't mean to say that you're not beautiful or something like that! N-no! That would be like, a big lie, y-you're really beautiful. It's just that it's c-cold and you're really hot, b-but like warm hot, but it's not- it's not like you're not hot-hot or-"

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called his attention and with her other hand, she held their joined ones in place, making him notice that in the middle of his rambling – where he was quickly making everything worse - he had dragged her hand around while he gesticulated as he talked. She giggled "It's fine! I get it."

He finally allowed himself to breathe and to look at her face again, only to catch a playful look on her eyes. "Besides… it's not like it's the first time you called me hot..." She smirked at him and he felt his face catching on fire once again.

"Aaaah! W-what are you talking about?"

"When we met remember?" She started to laugh between her words. "Before initiation, you were talking to Weiss about teams and when I spoke and you noticed me you… well… called me hot stuff."

"Oh, gods!" He shut his eyes tight, cringing at the memory. Of course, he remembered his attempts to woo Weiss with his confidence, and he remembered pretty well that particular one where he thought it was a good idea to expand his act to Pyrrha too. "Don't remember me of that. I'm sorry!"

"You don't need to be. I thought it was..." She tilted her head in the middle of her giggles. "…Quite amusing."

"That's not the impression I was trying to give!" He groaned and buried his head on the cushion on his arms.

She laughed again, only making him feel his face heating up even more at the sound, and before they could say anything else, he heard someone approaching and he shot his head up.

Nora appeared in front of them and placed a tray with two mugs of hot chocolate on the table in front of the couch. "Your drinks are ready!" She chirped. "And if you notice that there are fewer marshmallows than normal it wasn't my fault."

"Yes, it was because you ate almost the whole bag!" Ren shouted from the kitchen.

"It was Ren's fault because he left the bag all alone and sad."

"Not true!"

"Yes true!"

The boy just sighed. "Come and get your drink, Nora."

"Coming Ren!" She sing-songed as she skipped back to the kitchen.

Jaune and Pyrrha had only watched the exchange between the other half of the team like it was a ping-pong match, eyes shifting between Nora and Ren's voice coming from the other room as they talked. He just let out a chuckle at that before reaching for one of the mugs and handing it to Pyrrha, then eagerly grabbing the other one for himself.

"Thank you." She said before taking a cautious sip from the hot drink. He noticed that the color was completely back to her face, and he could swear that it seemed a little more flushed than usual, but it was probably because of the drink.

"Or, I don't know, because you just called her hot out of nowhere?"

"Well… It's not like it's not true…"

He shook his sudden thoughts away, diverting his gaze to the side, trying to ignore the sensation of his cheek tingling with heat, and quickly did the same as her. Taking a sip out of his own mug, the chocolate instantly filled his mouth with its sweet taste and warmth. Closing his eyes, he sighed contently, it was delicious as always, and he appreciated very much the heat his body was receiving, even if he wasn't feeling as cold as before.

Talking about before, he took notice that his hand was still in contact with something very warm, holding an intriguing welcome weight. His pulse quickened suddenly. He and Pyrrha were still holding hands, and neither of them had made a single attempt to let go.

Until that very moment, when she started to move her hand away. Jaune felt an unexpected and uncomfortable sense of disappointment in the pit of his stomach, but he loosened his grip without saying a word.

However, the emptiness only lasted one second, because right after she let go, there she was back again, shyly touching her palm with his so that they could intertwine their fingers properly.

And so he did. This was new... but it felt strangely natural – but he wasn't going to be the one to question it. They both didn't make any eye contact during the change of position, just occasionally sipped from their drinks. With his hand still relatively colder than hers was, he was more than happy with the contact.

After all, she was pretty hot.


End file.
